Page 87 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

“Go on and take it,” Kelsey said. “I’ll just chat with William.”

“Perfect,” Lexi said. “William was just saying he hoped you were here so he could meet you.”

“That’s nice,” she said. “We appreciate the business. How did you hear about us?” She sat down and opened the candy bar. The least she could do was talk with the guy who was going to fill her craving.

“It’s you I’ve been waiting to meet,” William said with a massive grin on his face.

She frowned. “Excuse me?”

“Come on, Kelsey. Don’t you know who I am?”

“No,” she said, angling her head as she chewed.

He looked on the short side, but it was hard to tell with him sitting. He was probably about five years older than her or so, she was guessing. His hair was thinning and combed to one side and he had a mustache.

She liked facial hair but not just a mustache by itself. She wasn’t sure why, but something about them made her think of her father when he was in his twenties and everyone at that time was walking around with a cigarette in their hand trying to be Burt Reynolds.

“We chatted for a few weeks.”

Her eyes all but popped out of her head and would have gone splat on the ground if she didn’t suck in a breath and choke on the chocolate caramel mixture in her mouth. “You sent me flowers, didn’t you?”

“I did,” William said, smiling. “So you figured it out?”

“Not until just now. You said we’ve chatted? Online?” She still had no clue who this guy was.

“Yes,” William said. “I’m user Billisgreat1. Bill.”

“Oh my God,” she said. “You don’t look anything like your picture.”

Then she wished she hadn’t blurted that out because she’d thought in her mind that his picture was altered or filtered. So many people did that now and it was another reason why she hated to chat online rather than meet the person.

It had to be the appalled look on her face that had him frowning. “That’s an older picture,” Bill said. “A few years.”

She held the snort in...barely. “We chatted a few weeks and then never met,” she said. “I ended it.”

“I know,” Bill said. “You didn’t want to be pen pals. But I told you we’d meet soon.”

She started to laugh. This had to be a joke on her and she was looking around for some hidden camera. “I guess your idea of soon and mine are different,” she said. “It’s been months of no communication on top of it.”

“I was working up the courage,” Bill said. “That is why I came here today. And I’ve got your favorite candy.”

She’d eaten one piece already and was going to put the second in her mouth and stopped.

It was creepy now.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “But I wasn’t interested months ago.”

“If we had a chance to meet we would have hit it off,” Bill argued. “I know that.”

Fat chance of that, but she kept those words locked in tight. For once.

“How did you find me? I never give my last name.”

“I kept the screenshot of your profile picture. I noticed it hasn’t been up for a while. You mentioned you lived on an island. It’s not hard to figure out which one. I’ve been comparing pictures with businesses here since I knew what you did for a living.”

Jesus, she was an idiot and never thought of that.

“No,” she said. “I don’t think we would have gotten along. But I’m seeing someone.”

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